One of the horror genre's "most widely read critics" (Rue Morgue # 68), "an accomplished film journalist" (Comic Buyer's Guide #1535), and the award-winning author of Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia (2007) and Horror Films of the 1970s (2002), John Kenneth Muir, presents his blog on film, television and nostalgia, named one of the Top 100 Film Studies Blog on the Net.

Monday, March 13, 2017

Memory Bank: Marx's Prehistoric Playset

To this day, I cherish memories of an early birthday (I must have
been four or five years old...) when I received this glorious"Prehistoric Play Set" sold and marketed by Louis Marx Co.,
Inc.

In particular, I have very distinct memories of opening up the
huge playset box in our living room at my home at 7 Clinton Road in Glen Ridge,
New Jersey, seeing the contents, and playing madly with the dinosaurs (and
cave-men) for hours, even as my granny visited.

I seem to remember that my granny gave me the set, but my memory
could be confused in that regard. As a child, I was absolutely obsessed with
dinosaurs, so this was the perfect gift.

There are probably about thirty-six dinosaurs or prehistoric
creatures included in the set, plus a cave-person dwelling (reachable by
ladder...) and plastic mountains (complete with a ridge and a small lake...).
Populating the set are ten or so plastic cave-men molded in various
action-oriented poses (some poised to throw rocks at the nearby dinosaurs, no
doubt...)

Among the dinosaurs included (molded in green, grey and brown...)
are the Allosaurus, the armored Ankylosaurus and Stegosaurus, a Dimetrodon, an
Iguanadon, the duck-billed Trachodon, the horned Triceratops, and a
Brontosaurus. There was a T-Rex, a Woolly Mammoth, and even a saber-toothed
tiger too. Now, you may realize that these creatures didn't actually all exist
in the same time period, but as a kid I didn't care much about the scientific
accuracy of the toys.

Simply put, this was Skull Island, the Lost World, the Land of the
Lost, Monster Island, and the Valley of the Dinosaurs all rolled into one great
toy, and I spent many a day sending in "modern" plastic tanks and
soldiers to battle these small plastic behemoths.

Somehow, I had managed to hold on to one squatting plastic caveman
(!) from this set for over thirty five years, but in 2008, I acquired a
complete playset on E-Bay. It was a gift for Joel on his third birthday, but
these days, he lets me display it in my home office. My wife insists that was the
(secret) plan all along.

She may be right. Even at my age, I love visiting this “lost world”
toy.

Wow, this is incredible! I've been enjoying your blog for a while now, and definitely had the impression that we grew up in the same area, but little did I know that we're actually from the same tiny little town! I also grew up in Glen Ridge in the '70s/'80s (57 Chestnut Hill Place and 84 Ridgewood Ave., which are actually adjoining properties). I think I'm about 4 or so years younger than you, so we probably just missed each other in school, but I'm sure we knew some of the same people (I went to Linden Avenue, and I'm guessing you might have gone to Forest?). It's also possible that you might remember my grandfather, Arthur A. Robichaud, who was the longtime Glen Ridge chief of police back when we were kids.

What makes this all even stranger is that my favorite childhood toy was also a Marx playset that I received in the '70s ("Undersea Adventure"), and I even still have a picture of me opening it, in the presence of my great-grandmother at that! In fact, due to my mother being an obsessive photo-snapper when I was a kid, I still have many pictures of Glen Ridge from that era, so just let me know if you'd ever like to see some.

Sorry to ramble on here, but the coincidences were just too incredible to pass up. I moved away from the area decades ago, but I still have an overwhelming childhood nostalgia for the place...

About John

award-winning author of 27 books including Horror Films FAQ (2013), Horror Films of the 1990s (2011), Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), TV Year (2007), The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia (2007), Mercy in Her Eyes: The Films of Mira Nair (2006),, Best in Show: The Films of Christopher Guest and Company (2004), The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi (2004), An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith (2002), The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film & Television (2004), Exploring Space:1999 (1997), An Analytical Guide to TV's Battlestar Galactica (1998), Terror Television (2001), Space:1999 - The Forsaken (2003) and Horror Films of the 1970s (2002).

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"...some of the best writing about the genre has been done by John Kenneth Muir. I am particularly grateful to him for the time and attention he's paid to things others have overlooked, under-appreciated and often written off. His is a fan's perspective first, but with a critic's eye to theme and underscore, to influence and pastiche..." - Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files, in the foreword to Horror Films FAQ (October 2013).

"Hands down, John Kenneth Muir is one of the finest critics and writers working today. His deep analysis of contemporary American culture is always illuminating and insightful. John's film writing and criticism is outstanding and a great place to start for any budding writer, but one should also examine his work on comic books, TV, and music. His weighty catalog of books and essays combined with his significant blog production places him at the top of pop culture writers. Johns work is essential in understanding the centrality of culture in modern society." - Professor Bob Batchelor, cultural historian and Executive Director of the James Pedas Communication Center at Thiel College (2014).

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